A Dictionary of the South Andaman (Aka-Bea) Language

ALPHABET FOR WRITING THE SOUTH ANDAMAN LANGUAGE

ALPHABET FOR WRITING THE SOUTH ANDAMAN LANGUAGE,

«IGN. ENGLISH, ETC.

idetj, cut
CUT (with

trilled r)

a

Ifcal. casi^

a

father

d^

fathom

e^

b^d

chaotic

e^

pair

i

hd

b

6ed

ch

ch^xTch

d

dip

9

/7ap

h

/iay

judge

k

/ling

I

^ap

m

man

n

nun

SOUTH ANDAMAN. SIGN. ENGLISH, ETa SOUTH ANDAMAN.

Oral Votvels and Diphthongs,

ya-di turtle, ^d hair
•hdi goU European
job basket
pdl'i-ke dwell-does
tdgo ^riKt, shoulder
bu'kura name -of a tree
pu-d-re burn-did
dai'-ke understand -does
ch6pciu*a narrow
chau body
'borgoli European

7*a more

ngt'ji kinsman, erke-dang-ke,

in trees-search-does ^
nga then
pid hair
Tab necklace of netting

ra'ta wooden arrow
ra'ia sea-water
not found i^
tt blood

Vi tear ( from the eye ^^ )
w6*lo adze, baVawa name

of a tribe
yabd' a little

ataba kind of tree

I

poh'ce

bd small, ydba not

6^

indolent
pole

ela'ka region
da-he dont (imperative)
jdrawa name of a tribe
d'mej name of a tree

6
6
u
d
ai

pot

awiul

influence

pool

bite

pu'd'TC burn-did

an

howse

e'la pig-arrow

au

rouse

ig-ba dig-re see -did

oi

hoil

Consonants

..

bud hut

n

Fr.ga^wer

chdk ability, mich'alen
why, ruch Ross Island

ng

hring

d&ga largje

ng

7

gob bamboo utensil

V

p^p

?ie ho ! aweh* ( h mounded,

r 8

rest

see note -"* ) etcetera

jdbag bad, e'mej name of

r'9

torrent

atr^^e

«

5ad

ki gal-ke ascend does

t

ten

ISg navigable channel

f

mu'gu face

w

■iret

nau-ke walk-does, ro'pan

toad

y

yolk

Rule.

In the above alphabet the syllable under stress in any word is shown by placing a
turned period (*) after a long vowel-, or the consonant following -a short vowel, in every
word of more than one syllable.

^ a accented befocre aoonsoiiant, is the (B^x^lish a in m^tt, as distinguished from d, which is the ehort
of a or Italian a in anno.

- e accented in closed syllables, as in bed ; in open syllables unaccented as in chaotic or Italian padre^
amore.

3 No vanishing sound of i as in English sai/. * No vanishing sound of u as in EngKsh knowJ,

5 ft, is sounded after a vowel by continuing breath through the position of the mouth, while
remitting the voi-ce.

6 When ng is folbwed by a vowel, it mustxun on to that vowel only, and not be run on to the
preceding vowel either as in 'finger' or in * singer ', thus ht-ri-nga-da^ ^^ood ^ not M'-ring-a-da,
bi'-ring-ga-da, or bt-rin-ga-da. It is only when no vowel follows that n^is run on to the preceding vowel.

7 ^g is a palatalised ng^ and bears the same relation to it as n bears to n. To pronounce « attempt to
say n and y simultaneously ; to pronounce ft/ do the same for ng and y.

8 This r is soft and,g«ntle, with no sensible ripple of the tongue, as very frequently in English, but
not merely vocal.

9 This r is strongly trilled, as r in Scotch, or Italian r, or Spanish rn

10 The Andamanese cannot hiss, and heace they substitute ch for «, thus Riich fo* S^iis the Hindt
corruption of Ross.

1' This t* is a post-aspirated t, like the Indian th, quite different from English th, and hence to prevent
confusion the Greek spiritus asper is imitated by a turned comma. The^ound t* is common in Irish
English, and may often be lieard in England.

A DICTIONARY

OF THE

A \ A

SOUTH ANDAMAN {AKA-BEA) LANGUAGE

With Grammatical Notes, Map^ Illustrations and Several Appendices.

BY EDWARD HORACE MAN, CLE.

Author op* The Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands,'* '* A Dictionary
of the Central Nicobarese Language,'' etc.

Reprinted from " The Indian Antiquary,''*

15omliag :

PsiNTED AT THE BRITISH INDIA PRESS, MAZGAON.

1923.